Where's the imagination?

Veeck says majors should show creativity

July 11, 2002|By Michael Hirsley, Tribune staff reporter.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig saw it as a "no-win situation," but minor league entrepreneur Mike Veeck said Tuesday night's aborted All-Star Game was "a huge opportunity for baseball to do something it has been loathe to do . . . experiment."

When organizers of the game faced the reality of depleted pitching staffs with a 7-7 tie game in the 11th inning, Veeck suggests, "They could have announced to the fans, `We blew it,' and offered them a few choices as to how to determine a winner of the game.

"Flash three alternatives on the scoreboard, for example, and let the fans cheer for which they prefer."

Such as?

"How about a mini-home run derby among those with the least home runs, or a foot race among the slowest runners, or a bunting contest in which you can't square away in advance?" he said. "Talk about a skills contest, bunting would be that.

"For a home run derby, I'd take the worst hitting pitchers on each team, let them face a certain number of pitches and try to jack it out."

If baseball wanted to get more creative fan participation, as Veeck said he intends to at minor-league games, it could let fans vote at computerized stations or flash an 800-number they could call on cell phones.

If all that is too radical, he said, "I think you could resolve a tiebreaker by going to the game's statistics, such as total bases or on-base percentage."

He didn't disagree with the decision to call Tuesday night's game after the 11th inning, but said, "I think it was a mistake to announce it in advance and give fans all the more time to boo."

Veeck is co-owner of six minor-league ballclubs, a senior vice president with the Detroit Tigers and the son of Bill Veeck, the former White Sox, Indians and St. Louis Browns owner and "Barnum of Baseball" who knew how to finish ballgames with a bang instead of a whimper.

The younger Veeck compares himself to his father as a utility man to a Hall of Famer. But although the father's innovations included an exploding scoreboard, a midget pinch-hitter and cow-milking contests, the son was no slouch with his "Nobody Night" publicity stunt Monday at the Charleston (S.C.) Riverdogs home game. Fans were not allowed in until the sixth inning so the team could set the record for lowest attendance at a pro game, and 1,800 waited for delayed entry.

"One of our players at `Nobody Night' said, `I'm not certain I like this,'" Veeck recalled. "I said, `Remember what an empty park feels like. It's a great life lesson.'"